Billy Bingham, arguably the greatest manager in the history of Southport FC, was given a hero’s welcome as he returned to the club he led to glory during a golden period in the 1960s.

Bingham, who took the Sandgrounders on a remarkable journey to the FA Cup fifth round 50 years ago before earning promotion to what is now League One the following season, was reunited with his former players in a packed Grandstand Bar on Saturday, February 13.

Bingham’s Boys: The Heroes of ’66, an event hosted by Trust in Yellow, celebrated Southport’s achievements half a century ago in reaching the last 16 of the cup, having registered three of the club’s most famous wins of all time against Stockport County, Ipswich Town and Cardiff City.

Fifty years and a day after a crowd of over 14,000 watched their fourth round win over Cardiff at Haig Avenue, the legends from season 1965-66 returned to the place where it all happened along with their former manager.

Bingham was given a standing ovation as was made an honorary member of the Trust along with all the other former players to recognise their continuation to the club’s history. Bingham also met the current Southport manager, Dino Maamria.

Former Southport FC manager Billy Bingham Photo by Julia Irwin

Of the team which beat Cardiff, all seven surviving members were present, along with four other players from that season. Having been introduced to the crowd at half-time during the present team’s match against Braintree Town, the legends then spoke at length to supporters and watched highlights of the win against Cardiff.

Six of that team - Ronnie Smith, Tony Beanland, Terry McDonald, Alan Spence, Colin Alty and Fred Molyneux - took to the stage to share some fantastic memories of that cup run and stories from their time with the club.

“Billy is from Northern Ireland like myself and he is very famous over there,” said McDonald.

“When I first came to Southport, we had a conversation and we agreed that it was wonderful to set a goal and try to achieve it.

“He went on to achieve great success with the Northern Ireland teams, just as he had done as a player, but his greatest ambition was that he always wanted to manage Everton Football Club. And he achieved that.

“We learnt so much from Billy Bingham, his training methods, and in terms of how to look after ourselves. That’s how it was.”